a thread opens
And it shall happen, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the grumblings of the children of Israel, whereby they grumble against you.
The Vigil
Today’s scroll, one verse at a time — each linked to the last by the cross-references rather than by any model of you. The same vigil for everyone, and a different one tomorrow.
For this reason both you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that you grumble against him?
from Numbers 17:5
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
from Numbers 16:11
Who also has made us able ministers of the new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.
from I Corinthians 3:5
a thread opens
Then Moses said to Aaron, This is it that the LORD spoke, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
I was mute, I opened not my mouth; because you did it.
from Leviticus 10:3
But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
from Psalms 39:9 · a strong link
Take, my brothers, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
from Job 2:10
Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
from James 5:10
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judges righteously:
from Matthew 5:11 · a strong link
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he breathed his last.
from I Peter 2:23
a thread opens
Now to him that is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
Who gave himself for us, so that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.
from Colossians 1:22
For you are a holy people to the LORD your God: the LORD your God has chosen you to be a special people to himself, above all people upon the face of the earth.
from Titus 2:14
Israel was holiness to the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, says the LORD.
from Deuteronomy 7:6 · a strong link
These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
from Jeremiah 2:3
a thread opens
Woe to them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.
from II Peter 2:15
Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise you, when you do well to yourself.
from Proverbs 28:4
And it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
from Psalms 49:18 · a strong link
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves in it.
from Luke 2:14
For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
from Psalms 69:34
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
from Isaiah 55:12
a thread opens
And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
from Luke 18:7
Let all my enemies be ashamed and deeply troubled: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
Let them curse, but bless you: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let your servant rejoice.
from Psalms 6:10
As he loved cursing, so let it come to him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
from Psalms 109:28
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
from Psalms 109:17
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
a thread opens
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
from Luke 14:26
Men do therefore fear him: he respects not any that are wise of heart.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
And do not fear them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
from Job 37:24 · a strong link
I, even I, am he that comforts you: who are you, so that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;
from Matthew 10:28 · a strong link
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
from Isaiah 51:12 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Numbers 17:5 along this chain. Today’s own vigil is laid separately.
Each verse follows the one before it along the chain a study Bible draws — a century old, public, and compiled by people arguing about Scripture rather than about how long you stay. Every card says which verse it came from and opens the chapter it belongs to. Today’s vigil is the same for every reader and is worked out from the date alone, so there is no account, no counter, and nothing stored in your browser or ours.
The text is the Lantern Modern Standard. The links are openbible.info’s cross-reference set (CC BY), the same apparatus behind the reader’s Echoes drawer. Read a whole book · Today’s table